Alternate universes
by ShannenSekaya
Summary: Chakotay wakes up one morning and everything is different from what it's supposed to be. Two years post Endgame.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Star Trek or any of the characters (except Counselor Sumazi which I made up) and I'm not making any profit from this.

* * *

When Captain Chakotay woke up in his bed in his quarters aboard the USS Voyager, everything felt just like it usually felt. He didn't notice anything strange until he got out of bed and was getting dressed. His bedside table, which normally had four photo frames on it now had only one. He'd had photos of his family, friends and colleagues. Now, however, the only photo on the small table was one of Admiral Janeway standing outside Starfleet Headquarters in San Fransisco. Underneath it was a text:

"Vice Admiral Kathryn Elizabeth Janeway, born May 20th 2335, died 12th June 2380. Rest in peace. Your memory will live on in our hearts and your sacrifices will not be in vain."

As Chakotay read it his heart skipped a beat and he almost forgot to breathe. This was impossible. He could clearly remember speaking with her over subspace just yesterday. She'd been talking about staying on the ship for a few days, something he had very much been looking forward to.

No, this was definitely not real. He was absolutely certain that this was a practical joke, only he didn't find it amusing at all. When he found the person responsible for this, they would be in a world of trouble. Kathryn Janeway's death was not something you joked about, especially not to Captain Chakotay.

He stood up and went over to his replicator. Then he noticed something else different. His walls, which were usually adorned with artifacts relating to his tribe and his heritage, were completely bare. There was not a single artifact or photograph on them, in fact the only decorative item in the entire room was that one picture of Admiral Janeway on his bedside table.

Quite suddenly his thoughts about who could have done something like this were interrupted by the sound of Commander Paris's voice over the intercom, "Paris to Captain Chakotay."

Chakotay tapped his combadge and replied, "Go ahead, Commander."

"You have an incoming transmission from Admiral Nechayev, sir."

"Put it through to my quarters, Commander," Chakotay replied as he walked over to a console on one of the walls. He pushed a few buttons and a moment later Admiral Nechayev's face appeared on the screen.

"Captain, how are you holding up?" she said, sounding as though she genuinely cared and wanted to know.

"I'm fine, thank you, Admiral," the Captain replied, somewhat surprised. He had never known Admiral Nechayev to show such care.

"No, I mean really," she said in a serious tone. "It's perfectly understandable if you feel absolutely terrible, Captain, given everything."

Again Chakotay was surprised. Everything what? He gave the Admiral a puzzled look.

"You recently lost one of your closest friends, Captain. It would be logical for you to feel awful. I'm still surprised that you haven't taken any time off since her death." The Admiral explained what she meant, but Chakotay didn't really understand. Was she saying that she believed Admiral Janeway was dead? Admiral Nechayev wasn't the kind of person who joked about something like this, in fact he wasn't sure if she had ever joked about anything.

"I'm not sure I understand, Admiral," he said. "Since whose death?"

The Admiral looked utterly perplexed at the Captain's question, which, unfortunately, confirmed that she was not joking at all.

"Since Admiral Janeway's death, Captain," she said sternly. "Maybe I have underestimated the psychological impact it's had on you. Report to Counselor Cambridge immediately. That's not a suggestion, Captain," she added.

_Who is Counselor Cambridge?_ Chakotay thought. The Counselor serving on Voyager was a young half human half Dormanian woman, Ayumi Sumazi. She had been one of the Counselors who performed psyche evaluations on Voyager's crew when they got home from the Delta Quadrant. But Chakotay knew better than to argue with Admiral Nechayev, so he just nodded and said, "Yes, sir."

"Very good, I'll be in touch with new orders in a few hours, Captain," the Admiral said. "Nechayev out." And her face disappeared from the screen.

* * *

When Captain Chakotay woke up in his quarters aboard the USS Voyager he didn't notice anything unusual. It wasn't until he got up and was, rather reluctantly, getting dressed that he noticed that his bedside table was different. He clearly remembered that when he went to bed there had only been one photograph there, the same one that had been there for the past six weeks, a photo of Admiral Janeway, standing outside Starfleet Headquarters in San Fransisco, underneath which was a text which read:

"Vice Admiral Kathryn Elizabeth Janeway, born May 20th 2335, died 12th June 2380. Rest in peace. Your memory will live on in our hearts and your sacrifices will not be in vain."

Chakotay had studied every detail of that photo and knew the text by heart. But it wasn't there anymore, instead there were four different photos, of his mother and sister, Tom, B'Elanna and Miral, his father and the senior officers who had served together in the Delta Quadrant.

As he walked around the room, he noticed that the walls, which weren't supposed to be decorated at all, were adorned with several artifacts relating to his tribe and his heritage. There were also a few more photographs. It occurred to the Captain that this must be some sort of a practical joke, no doubt someone had sneaked into his quarters and changed his decorations, just to mess with him. But he was not amused at all.

His thoughts were interrupted when Commander Paris's voice crackled over the intercom, "Paris to Captain Chakotay."

Chakotay tapped his combadge immediately and replied, "Go ahead, Commander."

"You have an incoming subspace transmission from Admiral Janeway, sir."

Chakotay's heart skipped a beat and he stopped breathing for several seconds. _Did he say Admiral Janeway?_ If the Commander was making a joke, Chakotay was not laughing. Joking about something as serious as Admiral Janeway's death was not funny at all.

When the Captain didn't answer right away Commander Paris said, "Sir?"

"Put it through to my quarters," Chakotay managed to say. Then he walked over to a console on the wall, pushed a few buttons and Admiral Janeway's face appeared on the screen.

Chakotay's heart skipped another beat and he felt himself barely able to stand up straight. His whole body felt heavy and he wasn't sure if he should believe his eyes or not.

"Good morning, Captain," the Admiral began smiling, but then her eyebrows crinkled in a worried expression and she said concernedly, "Are you all right, Chakotay? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Chakotay just blinked a few times, staring. He avoided looking into her eyes, but studied every other detail about her, making sure this wasn't a recording or a hologram or something of the sort.

"Yes, I'm fine," he lied, trying to sound like he actually was. "I just had a bad dream."

She seemed to accept his lie because the worried expression disappeared from her face.

"How would you like a trip to Bajor, Captain?" she asked, smiling again.

_Bajor? I just came from Bajor two days ago_ Chakotay thought to himself. But maybe the Admiral didn't know that.

"I just came from Bajor, two days ago, Admiral," he said rather confusedly. "Why would you send me there again?"

"You've been in orbit of Earth for over a week, Chakotay," she said with a chuckle. When Chakotay's confused expression didn't change, her smile faded, she leaned closer to the screen and said, "Are you sure you're all right? You look very pale. You should go to sickbay, let the Doctor take a look at you."

There was such concern in her voice that Chakotay had a very hard time fighting the tears that were burning in his eyes. He swallowed hard a few times and managed to say, "All right."

"That's not a suggestion, Chakotay," she said sternly. "Go to sickbay. I'll contact you again soon about your mission to Bajor."

"Yes, Admiral," he said stiffly. He finally looked into her eyes, and almost lost his balance again. They were so blue and shiny, full of life and joy, he felt like he was drowning in them.

"Good," she said with a smile. "Janeway out." And her face disappeared from the screen.


	2. Chapter 2

Captain Chakotay had served aboard Voyager for nine years but never before had he seen so many unfamiliar faces in the corridors. As the Captain it was his duty to know all his subordinates by name and know what they looked like, but he was human, which meant that there were occasions when he saw someone he didn't immediately recognize or hadn't seen before, but now it seemed that every other face was an unfamiliar one.

Voyager hadn't had a Counselor until two years ago. Chakotay clearly remembered when he himself had ordered one of the storage compartments on deck five converted to a small Counselor's office and had offered the half Dormanian Ayumi Sumazi the position of ship's Counselor. He had never heard of the man Admiral Nechayev had mentioned, a Counselor Cambridge.

He was so immersed in his own thoughts that he barely noticed when he walked right into a man standing in the corridor.

"Captain," the man said. This was one of those unfamiliar faces Chakotay had been thinking about.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..." Chakotay began, but the man cut him off, "That's quite all right, Captain. Is there anything I can do for you?" Chakotay's first thought was that this man was completely out of line, to interrupt a Captain while he was speaking.

"Is it your custom to cut people off when they are speaking?" Chakotay said, rather more angrily than he had intended.

"No, however I anticipated what you were going to say, it was rather predictable, given the circumstances," the man replied. He was wearing science division colors and lieutenant's rank pips.

"That's 'no, sir'." Chakotay was getting rather irritated by this man and sincerely hoped that this was not Counselor Cambridge. This hope was crushed when he saw the door on his right, which was the door to the Counselor's office. Chakotay's comment went ignored by the man.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" the man repeated.

"Admiral Nechayev recommended that I speak with you," Chakotay replied grimly.

"I see," the man said. "Apparently it takes an order from an Admiral for you to come and see me, well, come on in then." And he motioned towards the door, which opened and Chakotay stepped in.

The room was exactly like Chakotay remembered. Small, with a table in the middle, two comfortable chairs and a small replicator.

"Very well, have a seat, Captain." Counselor Cambridge motioned towards one of the chairs as he sat down himself. "I'm glad Admiral Nechayev finally ordered you to come and see me. I don't think you have come to see me since Kathryn's death."

Chakotay's anger flared now. What right did this man have to call her Kathryn? But then, this was all so strange, maybe in this twisted world, Counselor Cambridge was on a first name basis with her. Chakotay decided to see if he could get the Counselor to help him.

"Counselor," he said politely, "this may sound strange, but things aren't really the way they're supposed to be."

"What do you mean?" The Counselor's brows crinkled.

"I mean, I woke up this morning and everything was different," Chakotay explained. "You see, I don't remember Admiral Janeway ever dying. I had dinner with her yesterday. And I have never seen you before in my life."

"I see," the Counselor nodded. Before he could say anymore Chakotay blurted out:

"And the photos on my bedside table, I remember seeing four of them last night, but when I woke up this morning there was just one. And the artifacts on my walls. I used to have a dream catcher, and a painting by one of my friends from Trebus. They're all gone now." Chakotay wasn't sure whether the Counselor believed him or not, the latter's poker face was flawless. All Chakotay could do now was to hope that the Counselor could offer some explanation.

Cambridge was silent for a long while. After what felt like an eternity, he said, "I understand." Then he stood up and motioned for Chakotay to do the same.

"Come on, Captain," he said. "It's time to go see Doctor Kaz."

* * *

Captain Chakotay had been a Starfleet officer for many years and had seen some pretty strange things, but never had he seen such a strange sight as he had just seen in his quarters. A woman whom he had thought was dead was right there on the screen in front of him, talking to him, smiling at him, being concerned for him. It was too much.

When she'd signed off, he'd stopped trying to hold back the tears burning in his eyes. He hadn't really cried very much since she died, he still hadn't fully accepted that she actually had, but this had been too much. He'd sat on the floor crying like a child for several minutes before he felt strong enough to follow her order to go to sickbay.

Suddenly he walked right into someone. Looking up he noticed a woman he had never seen before. She was wearing lieutenant's rank pips and science division colors and she was standing, Chakotay noticed, right outside the Counselor's office.

"Captain," she said politely. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Where is Counselor Cambridge?" he asked, though he assumed he was in his office.

"I am not familiar with Counselor Cambridge, sir," the woman said. "I am Counselor Sumazi, I have been the ship's Counselor for two years."

_Maybe that's just as well, he's a lousy officer and probably a lousy Counselor as well_, Chakotay thought to himself. He and Cambridge had sparred from day one and Chakotay's disrespect for the man had just grown in the two years they had been serving together.

"Two years?" Chakotay repeated, more to himself than to her.

"Who is Counselor Cambridge, sir?" she asked, almost sounding as though she were speaking to a child who was explaining a childish fantasy.

"He's been the ship's Counselor for two years," Chakotay said, rather confused.

"I assure you, Captain, I am the only Counselor who has ever served aboard this ship," Sumazi said.

Chakotay was silent for a long while, contemplating his options. Something was wrong, he just wasn't exactly sure what it was. Maybe he could get the Counselor to help him figure it out. He motioned towards the door of the Counselor's office and said, "May I speak with you in private?"

She nodded and walked ahead of him into the small room. There were two chairs, a table and a replicator. Sumazi motioned to Chakotay to have a seat and followed suit a moment later.

"I know this will sound very strange, Counselor," he began once they were seated, "but everything is different."

"What exactly do you mean by different, Captain?" the Counselor asked.

"I mean I have never seen you before in my life," he explained. "And the decorations in my quarters are different. I don't have any decorations, I have only had one photo on my bedside table for the past six weeks..." His voice failed him as he remembered the painful occasion on which he had acquired this photo. At Kathryn's memorial service. Then he remembered something else that was different. "And Admiral Janeway died seven weeks ago, but I talked to her over subspace a few minutes ago." He couldn't think of anything more to say, he just hoped that the Counselor would believe him.

"And how did she die, Captain?" Sumazi asked.

Chakotay just looked at her in horror. Was she trying to use her counseling to get him to move on with his life. A part of him knew that he probably ought to, but he had spent so many years with her as a constant presence in his life, so many years loving her from a distance that he didn't know how to stop. And he wasn't sure he wanted to.

"I would rather not discuss the details of it," he said evasively. "Suffice it to say that I was very surprised when I spoke with her earlier."

The Counselor was silent. After a long while she stood up and said, "I believe you, Captain."

The Captain was very surprised, because he had been expecting her to tell him that he was delusional or hallucinating. He considered the possibility that she was lying and his suspicion increased when she said, "Come with me, sir. I think it's time to go see the Doctor."


	3. Chapter 3

"Who is Doctor Kaz?" Captain Chakotay asked the man escorting him to sickbay.

"He is the Chief Medical Officer," Counselor Cambridge replied. "Has been for the past two years."

"What happened to the Doctor?" Chakotay asked. The last he had known the holographic Doctor was still serving aboard Voyager.

"Doctor who?" the Counselor answered a question with a question.

"You know, _the_ Doctor, the emergency medical hologram," Chakotay explained irritably.

"Oh, him," Cambridge said, obviously feigning realization. "He works at the Federation Research Institute now with Seven of Nine. Has been there for some two years."

As the door to sickbay opened, Chakotay said confused, "Seven? What about Harry?"

"What about him, Captain?" Cambridge said surprised.

"Seven and Harry are engaged," the Captain started explaining but stopped at the sight of Doctor Kaz. Chakotay immediately noticed the spots on his face and neck and wondered if he was a joined Trill. Kaz would then probably be the name of his symbiont.

Before Chakotay could say anything, the Counselor started whispering something in Doctor Kaz's ear. Kaz nodded several times, then reached for a tricorder.

"Please sit down, Captain," he said and motioned towards a biobed. Chakotay sat down, wondering what the Counselor had been whispering. Kaz scanned Chakotay quite thoroughly with his tricorder, several times before saying, "Huh!"

"What?" Chakotay asked immediately. "What's wrong?"

"You have a different quantum signature than the rest of your surroundings, Captain," Kaz said in disbelief. Cambridge also had a look of surprise on his face and was peering over Kaz's shoulder to look at the tricorder data.

"I don't under..." Chakotay began, but then he remembered a report he had once read about an incident aboard the Enterprise. He was therefore not surprised by Doctor Kaz's next question.

"Have you heard the theory of quantum universes, or multiple universes, Captain?" Kaz asked.

"Yes," Chakotay answered. "It's the theory that everything that _can_ happen _will_ happen, only in different universes or realities. The difference can be little things like whether I decide to have tea or coffee with breakfast, or bigger things like whether someone's dead or alive."

"Simply put, yes," Kaz said. "It can also be even bigger things, like a universe in which Vulcan was destroyed or a universe in which the Federation was never formed. I think you come from one of those other quantum universes, Captain." He was silent for a few moments, taking some more scans. A whole new look of disbelief crept over his face.

Chakotay was on the verge of asking again what was wrong when the Kaz continued, "All matter within the same universe has the same quantum signature, yours is different from mine, but so is the biobed's you're sitting on as well as the bulkhead's over there. And none of them are the same."

"Meaning?" Counselor Cambridge asked.

"Meaning that they are all from different universes," Kaz said. "I'm not sure, but I think that could..." he trailed off, taking some more scans with his tricorder.

"So I'm not delusional?" the Captain asked, actually rather relieved. Since his talk with Admiral Nechayev his mind had come up with all kinds of reasons why everything seemed so different, he'd been dreaming, he had amnesia, he was hallucinating, but this, especially when he remembered that report from the Enterprise he had read all those years ago, made a lot of sense.

"Captain, I think we need to find a way to get you back to your own universe," he said. "According to the theory there is an infinite amount of possibilities resulting in an infinite amount of universes. The fact that there are many different quantum signatures here suggests that the barriers between those universes have somehow been weakened, possibly a result of your being here."

"Which means?" Chakotay asked, but he could already guess the answer.

"Which means, Captain," Kaz said gravely, "that unless we find a way to send you back home, all the quantum realities will cease to exists and the world will end."

* * *

"Doctor who?" Captain Chakotay said rather confused. The only one he knew who was only ever referred to as "The Doctor" was the holographic doctor who had served with him in the Delta Quadrant, but as far as Chakotay knew he wasn't on Voyager, he was working at the Federation Research Institute with Seven of Nine. The Counselor gave the Captain a surprised look.

"The Doctor, Captain," she explained. "The holographic doctor, the EMH."

"Wait," the Captain stopped. "He's here?" Apparently things were even more different than he thought.

"Yes, sir," Sumazi said. "He's the Chief Medical Officer."

"Since when?"

"Since he was made one by Captain Janeway nine years ago. Captain, I realize this is very difficult for you to understand but please, just come with me to sickbay and I can explain everything." The Counselor, ignoring protocol, took the Captain's arm and guided him towards sickbay.

"But what about the holo-strike? And if he's here, where is Seven?" Chakotay was still very confused.

"Seven Of Nine is also still serving aboard Voyager, Captain," the Counselor said calmly. "She and Lieutenant Kim are happily engaged. They've asked you to perform their wedding ceremony."

"What?" Chakotay said in utter disbelief. "I know they're friends, and Harry used to..." His voice trailed off when they entered sickbay.

"Computer, activate the emergency medical holographic system," Sumazi said.

"Please state the nature of the medical emergency," the Doctor said as he materialized in front of them. Before Chakotay could say anything, Sumazi leaned towards the Doctor's ear and whispered something in it. The Doctor nodded and took out a medical tricorder.

"Please, have a seat, Captain," the Doctor said and motioned to a biobed. What with the cryptic whispering and the Doctor's patronizing tone, he felt certain that the Counselor had in fact been lying to him. The Doctor scanned Chakotay several times, then he directed the tricorder towards the biobed and the floor. Chakotay watched as disbelief and surprise crept over the Doctor's face.

"What's wrong?" Chakotay asked.

"Have you ever heard about the theory of quantum universes, Captain?" the Doctor asked.

Chakotay hated it when people answered questions with questions, but he was used to the Doctor wanting people to figure things out themselves. And Chakotay had heard of this theory before.

"It's the theory that everything that _can_ happen _will_ happen," Chakotay explained. "Only in different universes."

"Exactly," the Doctor confirmed. "The difference can be subtle like whether you decide to have tea or coffee for breakfast, or it can be bigger like whether someone's dead or alive."

"Like Admiral Janeway?" Chakotay asked before he could stop himself.

The Doctor gave him a surprised look and seemed to decide to ignore the question.

"It can also be bigger, like a universe in which Vulcan was destroyed or the Federation was never formed," he continued explaining.

"And what has that got to do with..." Chakotay started but stopped suddenly, remembering a report he had read from the Enterprise on an incident relating to quantum universes. "You think I'm from a different quantum universe than you are?"

The Doctor looked thoroughly pleased with the fact that Chakotay had figured it out on his own.

"Yes," he said enthusiastically. "But it's not just you, the biobed's quantum signature is also different and so is the bulkhead's over there and the floors. And none of them are the same."

"What does that mean?" Counselor Sumazi asked before Chakotay managed it.

"That means," the Doctor's expression darkened as he took more tricorder scans, "that the barriers between the universes are breaking down."

"What does that mean?" Chakotay dared ask, but he had a feeling he already knew the answer.

"That unless we get you back to your own universe, the world will end."


	4. Chapter 4

"That's bad," Chakotay said, uncharacteristically stating the obvious. He looked at his hands, his wedding band was still there on his left ring finger. "Wait." At the sight of the ring, he thought of the Captain who was supposed to be in this universe. "If I'm here, is your Captain then in _my_ universe?"

"Yes, I believe so, Captain," Kaz answered. "It is equally important that we get him back here."

Chakotay was silent for a while. It was highly unlikely that the _other_ Captain would be willing to come back here. Of course he had no idea how close his relationship with Kathryn had been.

"I don't think he'll willingly come back," Chakotay said, more to himself than his companions.

"Why?" Kaz and Cambridge both said at the same time.

"Because Admiral Janeway is dead here," Chakotay said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Of course I don't know how close they were exactly, but if he's anything like me..."

"That would explain a lot," Counselor Cambridge interrupted. "If they were intimate with each other, it's not really surprising that he's taking it so hard, but even so, he's gone too far. He drinks alcohol, isolates himself from his friends and his family."

Chakotay, who had been going to retort again that it was rude to interrupt a Captain while he was speaking met Cambridge's gaze, which then traveled down to the ring on Chakotay's finger.

"I'm sorry, Captain but we do not have time to wonder about that," Doctor Kaz almost shouted. "We have to save the world."

"Do you have any ideas, Doctor?" Counselor Cambridge said. "Or you, Captain?"

"You're not all too helpful yourself, Counselor," Chakotay said calmly. He didn't dislike the Counselor quite as much, possibly because the latter seemed to understand why _his_ Captain was behaving like he had been for the past seven weeks. Chakotay was silent for a while, trying to remember how the crew of the Enterprise had handled the situation.

"Chakotay to bridge," he said after tapping his combadge.

Commander Paris's voice came almost instantly with a response, "Go ahead, Captain."

"Commander, scan the ship for quantum fissures or traces thereof, I'll explain later," Chakotay ordered. "Let me know what you find."

Commander Paris replied with the appropriate, "Acknowledged, sir".

"Sir," Doctor Kaz said. "Do you believe that your being here is the result of you traveling through a quantum fissure?"

"That is the most logical explanation," Chakotay said, noticing how much he sounded like Tuvok. Tuvok had mind-melded with him a few months earlier to help him recover from an incident with telepathic aliens. Apparently Tuvok's logic had lingered. The incident had had other much more pleasant repercussions. Chakotay looked back to the wedding band on his finger and couldn't help smiling.

"And if that is the case," Doctor Kaz asked. "Do you believe that it will be enough that you simply travel through that same fissure again and that will set things right?"

"Yes, I think so," Chakotay said. "But in order to save the world, _your_ Captain must travel through the fissure and back here as well. And we have no way of letting him know that."

"My counterpart on your ship is likely to come to the same conclusion as I have," Kaz said. Chakotay smiled. That was true.

"Your counterpart on my ship is the Doctor," Chakotay informed him. He looked at Cambridge. "And my Counselor's name is Sumazi. She's empathic."

"How nice for her," Cambridge replied coldly, though not quite as coldly as Chakotay had expected.

Their conversation was interrupted when Chakotay's combadge chirped and Commander Paris's voice issued out of it.

"Paris to Chakotay."

"Go ahead, Commander," Chakotay answered after tapping his combadge.

"We've finished the scans you asked for," Paris said. "We found traces of a quantum fissure in your quarters, Captain."

* * *

"And what happens if I refuse to go back?" Chakotay asked with more contempt than he had intended. The Doctor and Counselor Sumazi exchanged a dark look.

"Captain, you have to go..." the Doctor started, but Chakotay cut him off.

"Why? Why do I have to?" he almost shouted. "How is it fair that I have to go back to a world where my... my..." He stopped, it hurt too much to talk about it.

"Captain, I understand how you feel," Sumazi began, but Chakotay cut her off as well.

"No, you don't understand." He stood up from the biobed. "Have you ever loved someone so much that when they died it was like your heart had been ripped out while you were alive? And you still had to go on living?"

"I may not have experienced it personally, Captain," she said, "but I can feel your pain. And I am so sorry, but you have to go back. You're a Starfleet Captain, and as such you know that the good of the many outweighs the good of the few. That's why you have to go back. Because if you don't, billions upon billions of lives will be lost, including both yours and hers."

As much as he hated to admit it, Sumazi was right. He also knew perfectly well that Kathryn would not want him to risk the fate of the entire existence just to spend a few more minutes in her company. _There are more important lives at stake here than yours or mine, Chakotay_ he could hear her say in his mind. At the time she had said this, just before she went and got herself killed by the Borg, he had not agreed with her, but now, this line seemed appropriate.

"You're right," he said after a long pause. "I hate this plan, but it's the only one that will save the world."

Counselor Sumazi looked relieved and the Doctor, who had conveniently been scanning for more quantum fissures and thus pretending not to hear a word of what was going on, now turned to face the Captain.

"So, can we get back to saving the world, sir?" he asked. Chakotay nodded.

"I once read a report from the Enterprise-D," Chakotay said, acting as if nothing had happened, "in which one of the crew encountered a quantum fissure and was jumping through universes at random. If I remember correctly they solved the problem by sending him back through the fissure in the exact same conditions as when he entered it." Counselor Sumazi just looked puzzled but the Doctor nodded.

Chakotay tapped his combadge and said, "Chakotay to bridge."

Commander Paris's voice crackled over the comline immediately, "Go ahead, sir."

"Scan the ship for quantum fissures, or traces of them and let me know what you find," Chakotay ordered.

"Acknowledged, Captain," Commander Paris replied and the combadge chirped in a way that told Chakotay the the com channel was closed.

"You think you may have accidentally traveled through a fissure like that, Captain?" the Doctor asked but Chakotay didn't respond. Something else had occurred to him.

"I'm here, which means that your Captain is not," he said. "So he's on my ship, isn't he?"

"I have no reason to believe that he's not," the Doctor replied. "If things are to be set right, he will of course have to return here as well."

"But does he know that?" the Captain asked.

"I'm sure my counterpart on your ship will have come to the same conclusion that I have," the Doctor said, sounding far too sure of himself for his own good.

"Your counterpart on my ship is a Trill, names Kaz," Chakotay said, slightly amused at the appalled look on the Doctor's face. "And my ship's Counselor is a terrible officer and probably a worse Counselor, named Cambridge. I was always going to have him transferred..."

Chakotay was interrupted when Paris's voice issued out of his combadge.

"Paris to Chakotay." Chakotay answered with the appropriate phrase after which Paris said, "We've finished the scans you asked for, Captain." He was silent for a while, then said, "Captain, we found a trace of a quantum fissure in your quarters."


	5. Chapter 5

"My quarters?" Captain Chakotay asked Commander Paris who was still speaking with him through the intercom.

"Yes, sir," Paris replied. "It's not open any more, but according to our readings it was open only a few hours ago."

"Is there any way we can open it up again?" Chakotay asked. He knew that Paris was not likely to know that and imagined the questioning look he'd direct towards Harry. He was therefore not surprised when Harry's voice came.

"It's theoretically possible, but I think it will take a while to set up."

"How long?" the Captain asked.

"About a day," Kim answered. Chakotay looked at Doctor Kaz as if to ask how long they had and Kaz mouthed "Twelve hours".

"You have eight hours, Harry," Chakotay said. "Get B'Elanna to help you." It wasn't until after he had said this that he noticed both Kaz and Cambridge shaking their heads vigorously. Cambridge mouthed "Vorik".

"B'Elanna, sir?" came Kim's surprised voice.

Chakotay, realizing his error, hurriedly said, "I'm sorry, old habit, I meant Vorik of course." This seemed to be enough for Kim who said, "Understood, sir" and closed the channel, giving Chakotay a chance to question the two men standing before him about B'Elanna's absence. He didn't need to phrase the question before they answered.

"Commanders Paris and Torres ended their relationship several months ago," Kaz explained. "According to Paris they disagreed on how to best protect they daughter from various Klingon groups who claimed she was the chosen one."

Chakotay had heard about the Kuvah'magh prophecy but in his universe there weren't any Klingon groups in the Alpha Quadrant who knew of Miral's existence nor that she was supposedly the subject of the prophecy. Tom and B'Elanna were in fact very happy, expecting their second child.

"Lieutenant Vorik has been Chief Engineer for two years," Cambridge said. Chakotay was intrigued. Since there was nothing for him to do now but wait, he asked the Counselor and the Doctor all he could about what was different in this universe and they patiently answered all his questions to the best of their ability. He learned that as soon as Voyager had returned from the Delta Quadrant a devastating virus had spread over Earth and Seven of Nine and Icheb were blamed for it. Doctor Kaz had been instrumental in proving that they were innocent after which he was offered the position of Chief Medical Officer when Voyager was recommissioned. The holographic Doctor had been arrested for suspicion of collaboration with the leaders of a holo-strike but was later released and allowed to work at the Federation Research Institute along with Seven of Nine. Admiral Janeway had died only seven weeks ago, after having been assimilated by the Borg and made into their queen. As their queen she was responsible for hundreds of deaths but in the end Janeway's personality surfaced long enough to orchestrate the destruction of the cube that had assimilated her. The cube's destruction inevitably led to her death.

_I can't imagine a worse fate for her_, Chakotay thought to himself. Janeway had emerged triumphant over the Borg on many occasions and so it was not strange that the Borg wanted their revenge. Chakotay was glad to hear that she had managed to triumph over them once more before her death.

Several hours later, their conversation was interrupted when Lieutenant Kim's voice issued from Chakotay's combadge, "Kim to Chakotay."

"Go ahead," Chakotay replied after tapping his combadge to open the channel.

"The device is ready, Captain," Kim said. Chakotay stood up.

"Acknowledged," he said. "Meet me in my quarters in five minutes, Lieutenant." Not bothering to wait for Kim's reply, he tapped his combadge, then turned to the door.

"You're coming too, gentlemen," he said to Kaz and Cambridge. "That's an order," he added when neither of them moved. At that they both followed him out of sickbay.

* * *

"My quarters," Chakotay said quietly, more to himself than Commander Paris. "Is there any way we can open it up again?"

"I believe so, sir, but it will take a while to set up," Kim answered. Chakotay looked at the Doctor and Counselor Sumazi to ask how long they had. They both shook their heads, they had no idea, but the Doctor said quietly, "I believe we may not have more than twelve hours, Captain."

"Get started right away, Harry, you have eight hours," Chakotay said. "Get Vorik to help you."

"Vorik, sir?" Kim asked with surprise. "What about B'Elanna?" At that Chakotay gave the Doctor and Sumazi another questioning look and they both nodded, confirming that B'Elanna was in fact still serving aboard Voyager.

"Yes, of course," Chakotay said hurriedly, trying to gloss over his mistake. "Use anyone you need."

"Acknowledged, Captain," Kim said before closing the channel.

Since there was nothing more for them to do now but wait, Chakotay decided to ask the Counselor and the Doctor about what had happened to them during the past two years. They were a bit reluctant at first but Chakotay convinced them that it couldn't hurt, the same events were unlikely to happen in his universe.

He learned that Tom and B'Elanna were still together, expecting their second child. Harry and Seven were engaged, their wedding date had already been decided. They told him about Voyager's mission to Romulus a year earlier, following the Shinzon incident, to provide humanitarian aid and try to help place the Romulan Star Empire back under unified rule. Voyager had also gone on several diplomatic missions to Bajor, ensuring it's entry into the Federation at last. Captain Chakotay and Commander Paris had been instrumental in ensuring the safety to starbase Deep Space Nine when all of it's inhabitants had been rendered unconscious by an Orion terrorist group trying to hijack the station. Several months later Admiral Janeway had accompanied them on a mission to the remote Corvos III, where they made first contact with very telepathic aliens. The aliens' powers had serious repercussions for the crew, it took a while for them to fully recover. At this point in the conversation the Doctor and Sumazi exchanged a significant look.

"What?" the Captain asked.

"Nothing," Sumazi said hurriedly. "The mission just had unforeseen implications, that's all."

Chakotay noticed that the Doctor was trying unsuccessfully to hide a smile. Chakotay couldn't see what was so amusing about telepathic aliens causing injuries to their fellow crew members.

"I don't understand," Chakotay said.

"Let's just say that the Captain's relationship with Admiral Janeway changed drastically during that mission," Sumazi said with a hint of a smile in her voice, though her expression didn't betray it.

Chakotay couldn't help but wonder if this universe's Janeway and Chakotay had finally gotten together, but he decided not to ask. It would be too painful to know because he could never be with his Kathryn again. Instead he directed the conversation towards the various unfamiliar faces on board.

Several hours later the conversation was interrupted by the sound of Kim's voice crackling over the intercom.

"Kim to Chakotay."

"Go ahead, Lieutenant," the Captain replied.

"The device is ready, sir," Kim reported.

"Understood," Chakotay said grimly. "Meet me in my quarters in five minutes, Lieutenant." He didn't bother to wait for Kim's reply before he closed the channel. He stood up and walked towards the door. "You're coming too," he said to the Doctor and Counselor Sumazi. When neither of them moved he added, "That's an order."

They followed him out of sickbay, along the corridor and to the turbolift where they waited a few minutes for it to arrive. When it did, the door opened with a hiss and out stepped a woman in a standard Admiral's uniform, wearing Vice Admiral's pips on her collar.

"Captain, I was just on my way to see you," Admiral Janeway said brightly.


	6. Chapter 6

Captain Chakotay was standing in the middle of his quarters. In the room with him were four men, Counselor Cambridge, Doctor Kaz, Lieutenant Kim and Lieutenant Vorik. Vorik and Kim were setting up some sort of device which was supposed to open up the quantum fissure, which had been open in this room a few hours ago.

"Your Captain," Chakotay said to Cambridge, "you said he hadn't been to see you since she died."

"That's right," Cambridge replied. "And I'm not really expecting him to unless it's a direct order from someone. And he's not going to want to talk about it."

"He has to," Chakotay said. "And you need to do whatever it takes to get him to talk about it."

"Don't you think I know that?" Cambridge asked. "I know perfectly well what I need to do, it's just the doing it part that escapes me. How am I supposed to help a man who doesn't want to talk to me?"

"Just get him to start talking about her," Chakotay said simply. "I think once you get him to open that door, he won't be able to close it until he's told you everything."

"I'll keep that in mind," Cambridge said, almost coldly. Apparently he didn't like being instructed on how to do his job by someone who had no psychology education.

"He's probably very angry," Chakotay said, more to himself than the Counselor. "Angry at himself for not being there to die for her, angry at her for leaving him, angry at the Borg for doing this to them. That's surely how I'd feel." He looked once again at the wedding band on his finger. His musings were interrupted when Lieutenant Kim said, "We're ready, Captain."

"Very good," the Captain answered. "Start the device, we don't have much time left."

Lieutenant Kim pushed some buttons on the device and a steady yellow pulse emitted from it at a specific point in the room. The men watched as the yellow pulse collided with something, which then expanded and turned a blueish kind of color. That was when Chakotay remembered. The night before, he had woken up in the middle of the night and gone to the bathroom. On his way back to his bed, he had seen a strange blueish light, but had dismissed it as part of the scenery outside his view port. Now he realized that this blue light had in fact been this, a quantum fissure, linking two separate quantum universes.

Counselor Cambridge put his hand on the Captain's shoulder and said, "You're right, Captain." Chakotay just looked at him with his eyebrows raised, waiting for more.

"I hadn't considered that he was angry at her for leaving him," the Counselor continued. "And I think you're also right in that if I can somehow get him to talk about her, he will finally admit that to himself and forgive himself for that."

Chakotay smiled. He knew perfectly well that Cambridge probably would have figured this out on his own, but maybe by the time he would have it would have been too late. After having lived for a few hours in a universe without Admiral Janeway he could understand how Cambridge's Captain must be feeling, which was something Cambridge himself was not privy to. He also saw the Counselor glance at the wedding band on Chakotay's finger and a look of understanding passed between them.

"Very good, Counselor," he said. Then he turned towards the fissure and said, "Well, this it it. Wish me luck." And he walked towards it and after only a few steps he vanished from the view of the men behind him.

There was absolutely nothing around him. It was almost like being in outer space without an EV suit, except there seemed to be oxygen here and there were no stars, just darkness. Chakotay seemed to be walking on something solid because whenever he took a step he heard it echoing around him. _A cave_, was his first thought. He took a few more steps, hoping to go far enough to emerge on the other side, which he believed would be his quarters in his own universe, but instead he walked into something soft yet decidedly solid.

Despite the darkness, he could see quite clearly, which didn't make any sense at all, and he could see that the thing he had walked into was a man. He was dressed in the exact same kind of uniform as Chakotay was himself, he had Captain's rank pips on his collar, he was tall, dark haired, muscular and had a tattoo on the left side of his forehead.

* * *

Captain Chakotay completely lost control over the muscles in his body and found himself falling to the floor. He was caught by the two steady hands of the Doctor and Counselor Sumazi who helped him up and into the turbolift. The Admiral followed them with a puzzled look on her face and Chakotay could just barely hear Sumazi explain his behavior to her in hushed tones.

When they got to deck three, Chakotay had regained control of his body but he was unable to say anything. A part of him wanted to rush at her, take her into his arms and tell her that he would never let her go, but he knew he couldn't do that. Another part wanted to crawl alone into a dark corner somewhere and cry like a child for the rest of eternity. Lieutenants Kim and Vorik and Commander Torres were standing out side his quarters.

They all proceeded into the Captain's quarters where Kim, Torres and Vorik got started on setting up a device which would open up the quantum fissure which had been open in this room several hours before. Chakotay just stood there staring at nothing, looking almost like he was catatonic. When the Admiral gently put her hand on his shoulder he was so startled that he almost cried out.

"I'm sorry I startled you, Captain," she said quietly. "I just wanted to make sure that you were all right."

"The Counselor didn't tell you?" Chakotay said almost coldly. "I come from a universe in which you are dead."

"I know," she said. She was silent for a few minutes, then continued, "But that doesn't mean that you won't be all right, Chakotay."

Chakotay found his eyes fill with tears. How could she say something like that, didn't she know how hard it was to live without her? Then it occurred to him that maybe she didn't. Maybe she had no idea how much he loved her.

"Yes, it does," he said, turning towards her. "Because I can't live without you." His voice failed him and he tried to continue but found that he couldn't.

"Hey," she said gently. "I understand. Because if it were me, I'm not sure I could live without you either."

"Kathryn," he said. "I don't know if this universe's Chakotay ever told you this but I have to tell you." He swallowed hard a few times before he continued. "I love you." Tears were now falling freely down his cheeks. He was a very private person, not one to cry in front of other people like that, but he didn't care about that right now.

She smiled gently and wiped the tears from his cheeks with her fingers. That's when he noticed, a wedding band on her left ring finger. She didn't say anything, just hugged him in a comforting way. Just before she let him go, she whispered in his ear, "I love you too." Then she took his hand and gently placed it on the lower part of her abdomen. A look of surprise dominated his features as he understood what she was telling him.

The room was silent for a few minutes, then Torres said quietly, "We're ready, Captain."

The Captain nodded and replied, "Start the device." They all watched as Torres pressed a few buttons on the device and it emitted a yellow pulse which collided with something invisible and a blue hole appeared in the middle of the room big enough for a man to walk through.

Chakotay drew a deep breath, took a few steps towards the fissure and said, "Well, that's it, wish me luck."

Chakotay walked into the fissure and was soon gone from the view of the people behind him. There was nothing but darkness around him, almost like space but without any stars. He heard his footsteps echo in the dark which suggested that he was walking on something solid. He took a few more steps, hoping to emerge on the other side of the fissure, presumably his quarters in his own universe, but suddenly something collided with him. Despite the darkness he could see very clearly, which didn't make any sense to him at all. The thing that had collided with him was a man, dressed in the same kind of uniform, with Captain's rank pips on his collar. He was tall, dark haired, muscular and had a tattoo on the left side of his forehead.


	7. Chapter 7

AN: Sorry for the delay in the updates, but here it is, the final chapter. Thanks so much for the favs and reviews and hits everyone, you've really made this a fantastic experience and I can't wait to post my next fic here (which will be in the same universe as this fic ends in) :-D

* * *

"Captain!" the two men both said at the same time. But before they could do or say anything more than that, another voice came.

"What are you doing here?" It was deep and sort of dark and didn't speak very good English.

The two Captains couldn't see the owner of the voice immediately so they looked all around them in the darkness. Somehow it seemed that the light source that allowed them to see each other was emanating from themselves, and so they couldn't see anything but each other.

"Answer my question!" the voice demanded.

"We are trying to get back to our own respective universes," one of the Captains said. "What is this place?"

"This is my realm," the voice said, sounding almost sad. "It is called the in-between, the void, the world between worlds."

"Are you alone here?" the other Captain said. "Are there no others like you?"

The voice seemed surprised at the question as if it were the most obvious thing in the world that it was there alone.

"No, there is only me and the different universes," it said. "There are so many of them that I fear soon there won't be any space left for me." Again the voice sounded sad.

"Was it you who opened the quantum fissure in our quarters?" the Captain who had spoken to the voice first asked.

"I opened a portal between your universes," the voice confirmed. "I was trying to see if I could interfere, you were not supposed to go through it."

The Captains looked at each other. They both remembered the blue light they had seen in their quarters the night before.

"Why were you trying to interfere?" one of them asked, though they both knew the answer. The owner of the voice had no doubt spent untold eons watching what happened in all the different universes without ever being able to be a part of it.

"Because I am lonely," it said, sounding like it was about to cry. "I have been here alone for as long as the existence has existed, I have watched the universes grow and expand and multiply, I have never before had anyone to talk to. That's why I can't allow you to leave here. You will become my companions."

"We can't do that," one of the Captains said. "If we don't get back to our own universes they will all be destroyed and you will never even have the chance to observe one again."

The voice didn't respond, The Captains looked at each other again, apparently thinking the same thing because they both said at the same time, "What if you leave the void?"

"Leave the void?" it said skeptically. "And go where? None of these universes are big enough to contain me."

"What do you look like?" one Captain asked.

"Look like?" The voice didn't seem to have considered that before. "I don't know."

"Couldn't you decide to look like us?" the other Captain suggested. "That way you would be small enough to fit inside one of the universes and you could leave the void."

"I can try that," the voice said, still skeptical. "But I may not do a very good job of it, I have never tried before."

The Captains waited while the voice tried to look like them. After what seemed like an eternity they saw another man like figure in the darkness. Light was emanating from him as well and they could see him quite clearly. He was tall, with dark hair, dressed in a Starfleet uniform, like the Captains, but he seemed to have realized that it wouldn't be a very good idea to look exactly like them, because his facial features were radically different.

"Like this?" he asked. His voice sounded more like a human voice now and didn't seem to be coming from everywhere anymore, but his English hadn't improved. "Now I only have to decided which universe I want to go to."

"The most logical choice would be either of our universes," one of the Captains said. Then they both looked at each other and laughed.

"Channeling Tuvok?" the other asked.

"That's true," the man standing in front of them agreed. "Which one is better?"

"His," one of the Captains said, and the same time the other one said, "Mine."

"All right, then I'll go with you," the man decided. "Which way is that?"

The Captains, who were both standing in the same steps as when they first collided with each other pointed, one in front of him and the other behind him.

"All right," the man said, and started in that direction.

"You better go with him," the Captain who was now turning his back towards the man said. "Make sure the people on the other side won't get a shock."

"Yes, and you should get back to your own universe, Captain," the other one said.

"I know," the other replied grimly.

"I know that it will be very hard for you to live without her, Chakotay, but you have to try."

"I know," he said again. He remembered the wedding band on Admiral Janeway's hand and looked at the Captain's hand. There, on his left ring finger was an identical wedding band.

"Don't waste your life blaming yourself for her death," he said. The other nodded.

"When did you get married?" he said, trying to make it sound casual. The other Captain smiled.

"About two months ago, at _Voyager's_ two year reunion," he replied. "But we'd been seeing each other for a while before that." He laughed out loud as he remembered the occasion. "Kathryn threatened to kill me, because I asked her to marry me in front of everyone."

At that the other Captain laughed as well. Kathryn was, like he himself, a very private person, and he could just imagine the look on her face in that situation. Then he remembered.

"Captain, you'd better get back to your own universe," he said. "The Admiral, your wife, has some good news for you."

This elicited a look of surprise, but the Captain didn't say anything about it.

"And you had better get back to yours," he said kindly. "And forgive yourself."

The Captain smiled. "I'll do my best to try," he promised. "It was a privilege to meet you, Captain," he added and extended his hand to the man standing before him.

The Captain took the hand in front of him and replied, "The privilege is mine, Captain."

As their hands touched they both felt a sort of heat moving from their hands and spreading through their bodies. Then they parted and both started walking forwards, in the opposite direction from each other.

* * *

As Captain Chakotay emerged on the other side, he saw Doctor Kaz, Counselor Cambridge and Lieutenants Kim and Vorik standing in his quarters. He watched as the quantum fissure shrank and closed, the blue light faded and the yellow pulse hit the wall behind Chakotay. As dark and awful as the past seven weeks had been, he could feel a tiny ray of hope forming somewhere in the pit of his stomach. Somewhere there was a world in which everything had worked out the way it was supposed to.

* * *

Captain Chakotay stepped out of the blue hole and into his quarters. Counselor Sumazi, the Doctor, Commander Torres and Lieutenants Kim and Vorik were all standing by a device exactly like the one he had seen in the other universe. A few steps away from them was the man he had met in the void. And there, a few steps behind the Doctor and the Counselor, was the person he was most looking forward to seeing. His wife, Kathryn Janeway. Ignoring the others, he walked over to her and hugged her. She returned his hug and whispered in his ear, "I have to tell you something."  
"So I've heard," he said smiling as he let her go. She smiled, took his hand and gently placed it on the lower part of her abdomen. Then she said, "I'm pregnant."


End file.
